Means for conveying metallic articles through apparatus for electroplating



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Max-ch22, 1938. .1. KR NsBEuN 12,

MEANS FOR CONVEYING METALLIC ARTICLES THROUGH APPARATUS FOR ELECTROPLATIN G' Filed July 10, 1957 v 2. Shee ts-Shet 1 'Fljdfl),

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J. KRONSBEIN 2,112,164

7 MEANS FOR CONVEYING METALLIC ARTICLES THROUGH APPARATUS FOR ELECTROPLATING Filed July 10, 1957 2 Sfieets-She'et 2 50 oithe said section.

Patented Mn. 22, 1938 PATENT OFFICE auam MEANS Fon cou'vrnmsc n'mmc ARTI- cuss maven APPARATUS son ELEC- TROPLATING John Kronsbein, Birmingham, England, as-

signor of one-half'io The Brlghtside Plating Company British company Limited, Birmingham, England, a

' Application July 10, 1937, Serial No. 152,953

. In Great Britain July 9, 1936 r 3 Claims.

The present invention has relation to means for conveying metallic articlesthrough-apparatus for electro-plating, pickling, cleaning, dip paintingenamelling and the like. is a The present invention also has relation to apparatus of the kind wherein the articles to be I treated are suspended from a carrier bar which is moved by a conveyor system over a sequence of tanks and is periodically elevated and depressed 10 by appropriate mechanism to bring the articles into the tanks, and ensure their endlong' passage therethrough and withdrawal. for cleansing,

etching, plating, and the like. v. With such previously proposed apparatus dif- 15 ficulties have arisen withresard to the general synchronization of the various movements sometimes caused by stretching of conveyor chains and the like, andthe present invention has for its object not only to overcome or considerably w lessen the aforesaid liability, but to ensure a particularly satisfactory immersion, submerged movement, withdrawal and speedy transfer of the articles for obtaining maximum plating efficiency or treatment. I o 3 According to the present invention. there is provided apparatus for electro-plating metallic articles, comprising a sequence of tanks, an endless conveyor chain or like system supporting carrier bars for the articles and disposed substanso tially horizontally above said sequence of tanks,

a travelling trolley elevator mechanism associated with each tank, said mechanism providing for the elevation, transference and depression oi the carrier bar from and to the conveyor,' so that w the articles are transferred from cne'tank to another.

In order that this invention may he clearly understood and more readily carried into'practice, reference may be had to the appended drawwings, upon which:

Figures h and 1 illustrate an apparatus constructed according to the present invention in side elevation. I t Figure 2 is a front 'view of one section of the 48 conveyor or transferring mechanism if. 3 is a plan view of the said'section.

Figure 4 is a side elevational-view of the sec tlon.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary 7 -Figures 6 and 7 illustrate hereinafter referred to.

Figure 8 illustrates operating mechanism for shifting the sequence of conveyors or trolleys 66 in one direction. r

the conveyor tional' elevation In a convenient embodiment oi. the present invention a sequence of tanks are placed upon the floor in alignment, as for instance a. cleaner tank, cold swiil tank, acid etching tank, cold swill tank. nickel tank, cold swill tank, and hot 5 swill tank three tanks a b 0 being shown. Mounted around and above the sequence of tanks is a superstructure d which may have footways on each side for operators and which primarily supports sideby side endless chain conveyors 10 e carried upon chain wheels e the conveyor chains being appropriately supported at other desired positions. The lower parts of the conveyor,

' chains pass immediately above the upper extrem-.

ities of the tanks a. b c somewhat laterally thereof and on to these conveyor chains carrier bars)" (Figures 1, 2,- 4, 6 and 7) hereinafter more particularly referred to are placed, from which bars I the articles to be treated are suspended as at f (Figures 2 and 4). It is necessaryofor these bar's f to.be elevated at times from the conveyor chain e which may run along anglesection guide rails and to this end a travelling cross member It being connected by winding shafts h are connected together by a longitudi- -nal shafti which runs the entire length of the superstructure and is provided with an electric motor 1 (Figure 8) the connection between the longitudinal shaft i and the transverse shafts It being oi a worm and worm wheel character,

' it being appreciated thatby actuation oi the I motor i 'the slidable'cross member it maybe i need to be conveyed from one tank to another and to this end the entire sequence cit-elevators are dlsplaceable by means of the twinroller devices 9 along the superstructure, this operashift the trolleys toward the right in said Figure 1 B. A similar mechanism may be employed at the other extremity to shift the trolleys to the left. 'Ihe cables i may be operated by a common motor or by two motors properly controlled-suitable arrangement for this being obvious and forming no part of the present invention. The slidable cross member is adapted to engage with a carrier bar I on the conveyor chain c and such engagement may be of a mechanical nature or of a magnetic character. The trolley mechanisms h, M, h", I1 and h are interconnected by members k In operation therefore it will be appreciatedthat the articles are suspended from the carrier bars I on the endless conveyors e and the interconnected overhead trolley or conveyor mechanisms h, m, h'-', I1 and h are such that the lower cross bars h engage carrier bars ,1 and raise same,

following which the carrier bars are moved horizontally by cable 1 and finally downwardly into the next adjacent tank by the motor 2' whence the endless conveyor takes up itsduty and moves the articles through the particular tank in question. In this manner the articles may be speedily conveyed from one tank to the other and time periods may be arranged whereby when the articles have been elevated away from the liquid there shall be sufllcient time for the liquid concerned to drip back into the tank.

The conveyor bar I may be of H-section as shown in Figures 6 and 7 and a rubber sleeve of hollow H-section f is slid or passed on to the extremities thereof. A square section sleeve i is then slid on to the rubber sleeve 1 and is closed in by suitable pressure to conform to the H-section and consolidate the whole. Alternatively a hollow H-section sleeve or metallic sleeve may be passedon to the rubber and consolidated by pressure. The outer metallic sleeves I rest upon the travelling "conveyor e and the articles are suspended r m the central part of the conveyor bar at I. h. are electromagnets adapted to cooperate with armature plates I on the bar I.

I claim:-

1. In apparatus of the character described, in combination with a plurality of aligned tanks and a superstructure associated therewith, a series of ating means for all the elevators of the series.

and means for simultaneously shifting all of the trolleys.

2. In apparatus of the character described, in combination with a plurality of aligned tanks 7 and a superstructure associated therewith, an

elongated carriage movably mounted on said superstructure for linear travel above the tanks and including a plurality of spaced elevator guides, a plurality of elevators mounted in said guides, common actuating means mounted on said carriage to operate said elevators simultaneously, and means for shifting said carriage and its elevators as a unit linearly of the tanks.

3. In apparatus of the character described, in combination with a sequence of tanks and a framework carrying parallel conveyors adjacent the sides of the sequence of tanks, a series of transverse carrier bars normally supported at their ends by said conveyors; a superstructure forming part of said framework and arranged linearly above the tanks; a pair of trolley rails secured to said superstructure substantially directly above said conveyors; a plurality of trolleys each comprising an elevator frame shiftable longitudinally of the rails and having vertical, 

